Page 118 of Wedlocked

“Really?” The vulnerability I’d been working so hard to contain slipped out with that one word.

“I’m gonna make it better when we’re alone later,” he said, replying to so much more than my simple one-word question.

I didn’t trust myself to say anything, so I took a sip of the mocha. It was warm and sweet, the chocolate adding a bit of richness.

“I know it’s been a busy day, princess. Full of a lot of people and stuff. Can you hang in there just a little longer?”

I slid him some side-eye. “I’m not five,” I muttered, taking another sip of my whipped cream and chocolate.Fuck. “And I’m fine.”

The hand still around my waist tightened. His body shifted, clothes rustled against my side, body heat enveloped me. My body desperately wanted to give in. My energy already had, but I forced my limbs to stay upright.

“Fine’s not good enough,” he vowed softly, and prickles of awareness scattered along my arms. “Later.”

The words were a prologue to a story I was intrigued by. A book whose page I was anxious to turn.

“I got these,” Arsen said, louder this time, grabbing the handle of the stacked cases. “You take this one,” he offered, sliding one of the smaller bags toward me.

I gave him a dark look, and he smirked. “I can’t help it I’m bigger than you, princess.”

Those words were a well-aimed arrow, and they pierced my heart in the perfect spot, making it deflate. I found myself caught up in a tidal wave of emotion, trying to find purchase and not get lost in my own mind. If I was a violin, he was a master violinist because Arsen Aaron Andrews knew exactly which strings to pluck, exactly the melody bleeding from my soul.

I was needy and helpless, dependent on him in a way I couldn’t even understand. And as everything around us shifted and changed, I prayed what was between us remained.

Even if I was terrified it wouldn’t.

20

Arsen

I needto get Matthew alone.

He was teetering between too much and not enough. Too much of everything, not enough of me.

Arrogant? Perhaps.

Realistic? Yes.

Our signals were getting crossed, our energy competing. I usually did much better with that, but today, I was failing. The caveman that had roused in me when I met Matthew was out full force today, demanding and grumbling, practically beating his chest.

All because of a name.

But it wasn’t just a name. Not to me. Not when it came to Matthew.

The idea of him willingly putting any other man’s name after his made me pretty fucking prickly. Practically a giant cactus. Deep down, I knew Kruger meant well. But, bros, I’d rather take an acid bath and replace all my piercings with rusty old nails than have what was mine wearing someone else’s name.

It should have been enough that Matthew said no. Itwasenough.

Except maybe it wasn’t. Maybe enough would never be. Maybe I was a greedy bastard and wanted itall.

It also didn’t help that I could feel Matthew’s unrest. The lost look on his face, like no one was home, made me itchy and restless. Made me feel like I wasn’t doing my job.

My job? Being boyfriend of the year to Matthew.

Yeah, I hung out with Kruger too much. What can I say? We lived in the same house.

Didn’t make the urge any less true, though. I just probably would have worded it differently if not for my roommates.

Honestly, almost from the minute I’d ducked under those bleachers and saw Matthew hiding from the raid, everything in my life realigned. All my priorities shifted slightly to make room for a much bigger one. As much as it caught me off guard, I instinctively knew it was inevitable.Matthewwas inevitable.

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